FF: Escape Hatch (April/Ben) - 2/2

[cypanache]

Title: Escape Hatch 2/2
Fandom: Parks and Recreation
Pairing: April/Ben (seriously) with some background April/Andy and Leslie/Ben (but no cheating, see author's note)
Word Count: ~11,000
Rating: R (for sex, language, and screwed-up people)
Timeline: Up through 3x05 "Media Blitz"
Summary: “I don’t remember you being such an asshole in Pawnee.” ~ “

Comments

[popgurlie]

wow. i'll come back later with some coherent feedback, but this was brilliant and amazing and gorgeous and will definitely stay with me for a while.

[rikyl]

See, I was right, this was you. Although, to be fair, you did mention to me that you were working on April/Ben, and then this appeared, so it was obvious. :) But even without that, it really sounded like your writing, and I cannot think of many other writers, if any, who could pull this off so well. I already told you anonymously on the kinkmeme how much I totally love this, but let me just say again for good measure I TOTALLY LOVE THIS.

[drphungus]

Holy waffles. I saw the tags on this at first and thought, I can't. It would be like cheating on Ben/Leslie and April/Andy, but it's one of your stories and I couldn't not read it because as it turns out as expected, it is awesome. I feel like my head's been messed with and I love it.

There is so much to love about this--Andy's continued pursuit, April only being opened up and human around Andy--and Ben's longing for Leslie and the way it hurts him on an almost physical level. Even when she's not mentioned I felt like her presence was there. In this context Ben/April makes sense, you sell it so well, and the angst is pitch-perfect.

[fairytiger]

This is perfection. I was never totally turned off by the idea of Ben/April, because ever since "The Master Plan", when she gives him a blink-and-you'll-miss-it wave, I've always thought she had a tiny ~thing for him. But this was beyond anything I could have imagined, and that's awesome. Brilliant. A whole bunch of other adjectives. You took an otherwise "ick" ship and made it believable, real, and raw. Well done, as always.

[allthingsholy]

Comment butting in. Explain to me the specifics of April's tiny wave at Ben. What scene exactly are we talking about?

...

OMG, I'm a crazy April/Ben shipper. FANDOM ONLY GUYS, IT'S OKAY, OH GOD, OH GOOOOOOOOOOOOOD.

[fairytiger]

OMG I THOUGHT I WAS ALONE.

Okay, it's right after the Leslie-Ron-Ben conference room scene. He says "I'll get what I need from the spreadsheets." He leaves, kind of throws a glance over at Jerry and April, and she waves.

SHE WAVES. And it's glorious. Go watch now. Go go.

Edit: Okay, I went back to make sure I wasn't crazy and it isn't exactly a wave, but it's cute, awkward, I'm-looking-at-you-and-don't-know-what-to-do-with-my-hands-thing. STILL IT COUNTS.

[allthingsholy]

LOL, I just rushed to watch it and maybe she's just messing with her hair? I don't know, PLAYING WITH YOUR HAIR IS A SIGN OF ATTRACTION, OKAY, THEY ARE CLEARLY SENDING OUT SERIOUS VIBES.

And yeah, I've been Ben/April crazy for awhile now, when I wrote Ben/Leslie and accidentally came out of it shipping Ben/April, so now I'm writing Ben/April and I just started a Ben/April comm because I HAVE VERY LITTLE SHAME AND VERY SERIOUS NEEDS and. Yeah. I ship them in a seriously fandom-only kind of way, but man. I really, really ship them.

[token0978]

I wish I could give you a review half as good as the stories you've been giving us. Totally unexpected yet absolutely perfect. I've completely delayed my morning to read--thank you!